Ah, an aloha friday evening, and time to play... Just purchased the Epic 80 w/4 qs8's and the EP500. Getting close to pulling the trigger on pre/pro and amp. Leaning toward the Outlaw 990, and would like opinions on the 7125 amp vs. the Sherwood A965, which I can purchase with the Axiom speakers @5% discount. On paper, looks like the 7125 would be better value for a similar product, but I find myself drawn to the Sherwood unit? Should I be? Mahalo (big thanks) in advance. BTW, John, I appreciated your advice re: integrated receivers like the Yamaha, but my decision for separates has a lot to do with buying products in Hawaii. I figure the controller is a unit that will be switched out every couple of years given changing technology, but we have significantly fewer retail outlets here than on the mainland, and shipping becomes an issue for heavier products. I figure the above amps will last several rounds of controller turnover... :

'Sup Bug. My room is ~ 3300 cuft. I gotta admit - even at 43 I still like to crank the volume a bit, like during the R30 DVD. But probably not at college party levels. I had previously asked about the 7700 on this forum and several listeners felt that much power wasn't needed. What do you use?

I will agree that the extra power isn't "needed" as the 80s are very efficient speakers. But that said, I started with a Denon 3805 receiver, then Outlaw 200 watt monoblocks, and now a 250 watt 3-channel amp. The 80s sounded great with both changes.

My room is about the same size as your room and my listening levels are moderate for the most part. I'm 52 and sometimes I like to hear my music two rooms away. My amp runs cool and my music and HT are the best they have ever been.

Mark, I would think the 7125 should be more than enough for your needs, unless you want to play at insane levels. The 7125 will give you 190wpc through your 4ohm M80's.I use a Argaon 2005, it's a 5 channel amp that puts out 200wpc and I can crank the M80's in a 20,000 cu ft area to earsplitting levels.

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

thanks for the feedback guys. Since the topic of the outlaw 7700 was mentioned, would anybody be able to explain what is meant by "fully differential amplifier"? Also, if there are any Sherwood A965 owners out there, would like their opinions as well. Can't wait to hear Sunday Meadowlands surround sound through the Axioms - go Tiki!

What is a differential drive amplifier?A truly differential drive amplifier, consists of two complete amplifiers for each channel: one + amplifier and - amplifier. The positive input signal is amplified by the positive amplifier and the negative input signal is amplified by the negative amplifier when a balanced signal is applied to the input. There is no ground reference since the output signal is derived from the combination of the positive signal and the negative signal. A differential drive amplifier is sensitive to the difference between the positive and negative input signals resulting in those signals common to the input being cancelled. The input stages of each channel of the amplifier are of differential design all on one substrate resulting in the reduction of hum and turn-on/turn-off pops. This is referred to as "common mode rejection".